From Whiting to Groper: A Scalable AI Framework for Growing Team Capacity

LIVE WEBINAAIR

Join us for an inspiring and practical session with award-winning presenter Etienne Viljoen, Business Intelligence Manager at Charles Darwin University.

Fresh from winning Best Presenter at the AAIR Forum, Etienne returns with a clear, scalable framework for building team capacity through AI. Using a memorable fishing analogy, he will demonstrate how institutional research teams can move beyond manual processes and technical debt to create a more strategic, resilient and proactive data culture.

If you’re ready to reduce the daily grind, automate with confidence and grow capability step by step, this session will give you a practical blueprint for change.

Presenter: Etienne Viljoen, Business Intelligence Manager at Charles Darwin University

Facilitator: David Cawthorne, Manager, Government Reporting Transformation, CDU, and AAIR Executive Committee member

Biography

Etienne Viljoen, Business Intelligence Manager at Charles Darwin University, is a passionate advocate for using AI to make work more meaningful. He focuses on developing frameworks that reduce technical debt and free teams from the daily grind of repetitive tasks. While his presentation uses a fishing analogy to chart a course for AI adoption, he readily admits his knowledge of actual fish is surprisingly limited.

Abstract

Institutional research teams are often caught in an endless tide of technical debt, where simply 'treading water' with manual processes is the norm. The mindset that there's honour in this struggle is no longer sustainable. This presentation charts a new course, introducing a repeatable framework for using AI as a powerful current to build capability and navigate complexity. We'll guide attendees on a scalable journey from Whiting to Groper, demonstrating how any team can start small and methodically grow its capacity through clear, progressive stages: from Whiting to Bream, Flathead, Jewfish, and finally Groper.

This step-by-step approach transforms a team's focus from the daily grind to strategic innovation. It provides a clear pathway to systematically reduce technical debt, automate repetitive tasks, and build a resilient, proactive data culture. By mastering one level at a time, teams can turn murky, undocumented depths into a clear, accessible navigational chart, allowing them to get ahead of the swell and anticipate the next wave. Our talk is a blueprint for change. Attendees will learn how a small team, even with a junior crew, can use this framework to build momentum and achieve significant outcomes. This is a story of empowerment, demonstrating how a phased AI adoption strategy can help any team ride the reporting wave and land the big one.

Pricing:

• Members: FREE

• Non-members: $75.74 (AUD$65 + GST + booking fee)

THIS IS A LIVE WEBINAAIR. RECORDINGS WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE.